Camille Naredo

A scene from the "Legally Blonde" prequel, "Elle." Handout/Prime Video

Tom Everett Scott, Lexi Minetree, June Diane Raphael

Article (news)

Elle - First Look

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News

Before Elle Woods dismantled stereotypes in pink suits and matching heels, she was just another teenager trying to survive high school.As it turns out, so were the actors of Prime Video&#x27;s &quot;Elle,&quot; a prequel to the highly successful &quot;Legally Blonde&quot; film series. The difference, they shared, is that they&#x27;ve had years to look back on those awkward moments with perspective — and a sense of humor.I asked the cast what surprised them most about their younger selves, and the conversation immediately drifted away from polished Hollywood anecdotes and into a wonderfully nerdy rabbit hole involving anime, oversized feet, teenage angst, and an online wizard game.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/movies-series/2026/7/2/before-harvard-legally-blonde-prequel-elle-arrives-on-prime-video-1813">READ: &#x27;Legally Blonde&#x27; prequel &#x27;Elle&#x27; arrives on Prime Video</a></div>Lexi Minetree, who steps into the role of a young Elle Woods, was first to volunteer her own history.&quot;I was a very awkward child,&quot; she admitted. &quot;I was very nerdy. I love anime. I&#x27;m upset because I think anime is cool now, and I did it at a time when it wasn&#x27;t cool, and I had to hide it.&quot;Chandler Kinney revealed she&#x27;d attended Anime Expo four times. Policano immediately asked if she could join her next time, and before long the three were enthusiastically discussing cosplay and reminiscing about Wizard101.The revelations feel fitting because, in the show, audiences meet Elle Woods before she fully develops her trademark unapologetic confidence.Policano recalled having waist-length hair and feeling uncertain about who she was. &quot;I think I just felt a little more shame about my personality than I do now. I&#x27;m a lot more comfortable with being the way I am. It took me a second to get to a place of confidence and just being myself.&quot;Jacob Moskovitz, meanwhile, said revisiting high school through his character has become unexpectedly personal. &quot;I was very nervous. I was very shy in high school,&quot; he said. &quot;Getting the ability to play these characters, and also just do this as a profession, like sort of step into people who are sometimes aspirations of who I&#x27;d like to be, and also aspirations of a high school version of myself.&quot;In other words, playing teenagers occasionally gives actors a second chance at being one. &quot;I was very into maths for a long period of time,&quot; British actor Zac Looker shared when asked what it is about his teen version that would surprise people who know him now.The adults in the cast remembered adolescence with the same mix of affection and disbelief. June Diane Raphael, who plays Elle&#x27;s mom, laughed while recalling that she had already reached her full height before turning 10.&quot;Some people are like, &#x27;So how did you get into comedy?&#x27; I&#x27;m like, well, let me tell you how tall I was,&quot; she said.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1783124659562ELLE_S1_UT_250428_BROJES_00438RC_3000.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="A scene from the &quot;Legally Blonde&quot; prequel, &quot;Elle.&quot; Handout/Prime Video"/>A scene from the &quot;Legally Blonde&quot; prequel, &quot;Elle.&quot; Handout/Prime Video</div>Tom Everett Scott, who plays Elle&#x27;s dad, had the opposite problem: &quot;I was not tall. I was a music guy, and not good at sports, and was like a fetus in sneakers when I was a freshman in high school.&quot;Raphael also remembered adolescence as emotional chaos: &quot;It&#x27;s the most horrifying age. Your body&#x27;s exploding, and the hormones… I had this visceral memory of being so mad at my parents for no reason.&quot;Scott has spent enough years in Hollywood to watch generations of audiences discover his work in different ways, from &quot;That Thing You Do!&quot; to &quot;The Summer I Turned Pretty,&quot; and now &quot;Elle.&quot; His response to finding new, young fans carried the easy confidence of someone who has learned that careers have their own rhythm and that not every project would be successful.&quot;Welcome to my career,&quot; he offered, smiling.Raphael, meanwhile, offered a refreshing perspective on scene-stealing supporting roles. Every actor, she said, approaches the work the same way regardless of billing.&quot;My only tip is don&#x27;t approach it any differently than you would if you were the lead and number one on the call sheet. We all think of ourselves as the stars of our shows and movies, because you kind of have to.&quot;It&#x27;s an unexpectedly fitting philosophy for a series built around one of pop culture&#x27;s most memorable protagonists. Every teenager believes their story matters because it does. That idea also sits at the heart of Elle Woods herself. When asked what misconception about ambitious young women the series challenges, Minetree didn&#x27;t hesitate.&quot;Particularly when women have confidence, it&#x27;s kind of looked down upon as egotistical or bossy,&quot; she said. &quot;I think that&#x27;s called self-awareness, especially when you&#x27;ve worked hard and you know your self-worth.&quot;For a character who would eventually become an icon by refusing to shrink herself, that feels like the perfect place to begin.

Before Elle Woods dismantled stereotypes in pink suits and matching heels, she was just another teenager trying to survive high school.

Before Elle Woods dismantled stereotypes in pink suits and matching heels, she was just another teenager trying to survive high school.

HERE IN HOLLYWOOD: The cast of Legally Blonde prequel 'Elle' gets honest about their awkward teen years

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HERE IN HOLLYWOOD: The cast of Legally Blonde prequel 'Elle' gets honest about their awkward teen years

Yong Chavez,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 04, 2026 08:39 AM PHT

Read More:

Legally Blonde

Elle

Elle Woods

Prime Video

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